Let it Breathe

Does wine really breathe? The term breathing usually refers to the process of aerating the wine or simply maximizing the wine's exposure to the surrounding air. Wine needs to come in contact with at least a little air to release its bouquet. Technically, the air causes the esters - fragrant liquids - in wine to evaporate or volatilize. In addition the wine will typically warm up causing the wine's aromas to open up and the overall flavor characteristics to improve. That's why you swirl a wine in your glass before you smell it.  

Which Wines Need to Breathe 

In general, most red wines but only a few white wines and dessert wines can benefit from aeration. Many young, concentrated red wines, like an expensive Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux that can age for several years, undergo a sort of micro aging process by getting lots of air into them. The same goes for a young and concentrated or especially astringent white wine, such as a white Burgundy. The reason is that forced exposure to air begins to oxidize a wine, causing subtle chemical changes that affect both the flavors and the texture. 

How to Let Your Wine Breathe 

Just popping the cork isn’t going to get you there. Pulling the cork out of the bottle and letting the bottle sit there has little perceptible effect on aerating the wine. Under these circumstances only a small amount of the wine in the bottle has contact with air. The little space in the neck of  the bottle is way too small to allow your wine to breathe very much. The best and most entertaining way to accomplish real aeration is to pour the wine into another vessel. If you really want to aerate your wine, do one or both of the following: 

Decant - A decanter can be defined as any large liquid container with a wide opening at the top and able to hold the whole bottle of wine. This can be an orange juice pitcher, glass jar or clean flower vase you have on hand. The idea is to splash the wine as much as possible while pouring  to maximize the wine’s contact with air. The increased surface area is the key to allowing more air to make contact with the wine. 

Wine Glasses - The wine will do a lot more breathing in your glass than it ever would have while still cooped up in the bottle. Pour your wine into large wine glasses and let it aerate about 10 minutes before you plan to drink it. This is certainly the low-maintenance method and typically works quite well. 

In general, the Aeration Rule of Thumb: the more tannins a wine has the more time it will need to aerate. Lighter-bodied red wines, Pinot Noir for example, that have lower tannin levels, will need little if any time to breathe.